


Aeternus

by cynicalcinnamon



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 13:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynicalcinnamon/pseuds/cynicalcinnamon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Death was never something Levi feared, but he certainly didn't expect it to be like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aeternus

Levi both hears and feels that agonizingly slow  _c r u n c h_   and, within a few moments, he descends  
int **o**  
glo **rious**  
 **darkness.**  
 **\-------**  
 **\---** \---  
\---  
-  
  
A little while later (or was it a century?), his eyes open with a startling jolt. There's nothing but pure, blinding white around him, above him, below him. The silence is uncomfortable, stifling, toosilent,toocompressed,andhecanhardlybreatheuntil  
  
He shakes his head. This is just a dream, and he can't afford to sleep on the battlefield. Maybe if he calls out, someone outside will respond and wake him up. So he does.  
  
"Hanji!" he shouts, except there's nothing but  e c h o e s.  
  
"Hanji!"

_"Hanji!"_

  
he tries again. But each of his  
cries

 

_cries_

is

 

_is_

just

 

_just_

echoed

 

_echoed_

back.

  
What the hell is going on?

He grasps at his blades, instinctively searching for a way to defend himself. But there's nothing at his sides. In fact…there's nothing to grasp with. There is just…empty space. Levi is  n o t h i n g.  
  
 _…oh. That's right. He's gone. And yet...he's here._  
  
It's a confusing matter, this thing called death. What is he even doing here? Will he just float in this void forever?  
  
 _Or is he waiting for someone?_  
  
There's nothing else he can do. So he waits. And waits.

And waits.

He sighs and closes his eyes, hoping that something will happen while he's asleep (if it can even really be called that at this point). And the moment he closes his eyes, he sees them. Gunter, Erd, Auruo, Petra. They're all smiling, reaching out towards him for an embrace, and he realizes. All he needed to do was close his eyes; all he needed to do was

 

l e t  
g o.

And as their fingers touch him, he can feel himself being redefined, shoulders, arms, torso, slowly forming and glimmering, like tiny shards of stained glass, pieces falling back into place and he suddenly feels that curious _itch_ upon his back.  
  
His squad suddenly steps back and glistening tears fall from their eyes, scattering around Levi like clear, shining marbles, and reflected in every one of them is a memory. He's not sure whose they are, but they all seem so familiar…  
  
The _itch_ is driving him nearly insane and he's just about to open his mouth and demand an explanation of what's going on when his squad suddenly salutes him, fists above their hearts.  
  
He finally hears a sound, a strange, unfurling sound behind him, and it's almost deafening in the extended silence. He spins around, anticipating the jaws of a titan, but instead he leaves cascading feathers in his wake.  
  
 _Feathers?_  
  
Levi's eyes slowly travel over his shoulder and he sees them.  
  
The  w i n g s  of  f r e e d o m , in their true form and glory. The thought has not yet registered in his mind when there's a comforting, familiar scent in the air. The sensation is so **powerful** and **overwhelming** that Levi chokes in surprise and he doesn't even know why the tears are falling from his eyes. He struggles to keep himself composed -- but he notices that his tears aren't dropping into the empty space. They seem to be following a  t  
                                                   r  
                                                           a  
                                                                    i  
                                                                          l,

finally forming a    c i r c l e    around… _oh_.

  
The tall figure walks towards Levi, the teardrops still slowly whirling around him, and each step is accompanied by the distant sounds of church bells and splashes of water drops. The blinding white is slowly peeled away, replaced with a shimmering, translucent kaleidoscope of seas of sand, meadows of ice, walls of luscious green fronds.  
  
Levi's hand reaches out tentatively, as if everything is an  _i l l u s i o n_.  But his fingers are quickly met with those of the other man's, intertwining, forging

perfect  
 _unity_.

A sudden **w a r m t h** spreads through his fingertips and each fragile shard of his body seems to _pulsate_. The final bell tolls and the last water drop settles into the center of the images of the outside world. A strange tremor runs along Levi's spine, across his chest, and to his palms. He finally lets out a shaky sigh. The hand grips Levi a bit more tightly, as if to steady him.  
  
Levi closes his eyes, waiting. And there's no mistake.  
  
"Finally," Erwin murmurs with a faint smile, pressing his forehead to Levi's, "we're free."

**Author's Note:**

> As I'm sure you can tell, this is quite possibly the weirdest experiment I've ever performed! (I'm still not too certain what exactly just happened.) I'm sure there are plenty of formatting errors that I haven't caught, but hopefully you got the gist of it!  
> (...SnK heaven is one heck of a place.)


End file.
